Smith, Huey

▪ American musician

born Jan. 26, 1934, New Orleans, La., U.S.

      American pianist, bandleader, songwriter, and vocalist, a principal figure in the 1950s rock and roll that became known as the New Orleans sound.

      Smith contributed vocals and his aggressive, boogie (boogie-woogie)-based piano style to the rhythm-and-blues (rhythm and blues) recordings of others before forming his own band. For a time Huey Smith and the Clowns, which featured singer-comedian Bobby Marchan and outstanding New Orleans instrumentalists, toured widely as a result of their 1957–58 novelty hits “Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu” and “Don't You Just Know It.” The latter, with its “Koobo, kooba, kooba, kooba” chorus, was a favourite of American teenagers. The band's final hit was the 1959 Smith song “Sea Cruise,” sung by a white youth, Frankie Ford.

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